Hallelujah Junction

Choreography by: Peter Martins

Music by: John Adams

Martins’ Hallelujah Junction is a living locomotive of propulsive vitality, set to a pulsing John Adams score played by two onstage pianists.

Peter Martins’ Hallelujah Junction is set to a score of the same name by John Adams. The music was written for two pianos, and named after a small truck stop near the California-Nevada border. Adams said of the piece, “It was a case of a good title needing a piece, so I obliged by composing this work for two pianos.” The work centers on delayed repetition between the two pianos, creating an effect of echoing sonorities. There is a constant shift of pulse and meter, but the main rhythms are based on the rhythms of the word “Hal-le-LU-jah.” The ballet, originally created for the Royal Danish Ballet, features a principal couple in white, a male soloist in black, and a small corps de ballet. The two pianists, dimly lit and facing each other at the back of the stage, appear to hover in the darkness above the dancers.